James Henry "Foxy Grandpa" Bannon (May 5, 1871 – March 24, 1948) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

and

Boston Beaneaters Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

. Bannon was primarily an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, though he played a few games as an infielder and pitched in three games. He stood at 5'5".

Biography

Bannon was born in

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the ...

, grew up in

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...

, and attended the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

, where he was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the baseball team."Jimmy Bannon's Obit"
. ''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-30. He played in the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

in 1890."Jimmy Bannon Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-30. In 1893, Bannon started his major league career with the St. Louis Browns. He hit well, and after the season, he signed with the Boston Beaneaters. There, he joined future Hall of Famers

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwau ...

and Tommy McCarthy in the outfield. In 1894, Bannon batted .336 with 130 runs scored and 114

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

for the powerful Boston offense. He also performed well defensively, leading all

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

outfielders with 43 assists. In 1895, he batted a career-high .347. He also helped turn 12

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s, tied for second-most double plays turned by a right fielder in a single season. Bannon slumped badly in 1896, though, and he was released in August. In four years, he appeared in a total of 367 major league games, achieving a lifetime .320

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 19 home runs and 253 RBI. Bannon then went down to the minors. From 1899 to 1902, he played for Toronto in the Eastern League. In 1899, he led the league with a .341 batting average."1899 Eastern League Batting Leaders"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-30. He continued playing until 1910 and also managed in five different seasons. After his playing career was over, Bannon served as a baseball coach at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

. He was also president of the New England League. Bannon died in 1948, at the age of 76.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannon, Jimmy 1871 births 1948 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Boston Beaneaters players Columbus Senators players Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Lawrence Colts players Lehigh Mountain Hawks baseball coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Royals managers Montreal Royals players Newark Sailors players Sportspeople from Saugus, Massachusetts People from Amesbury, Massachusetts Baseball players from Essex County, Massachusetts St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Toronto Royals players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Lynn Shoemakers players